Posts tagged “Mike O’Neill ABIPP”

A recent exercise I went on had me in Italy for a week. We were staying 5 minutes walk from The Leaning Tower, so it would have been rude not to take the opportunity to go and shoot it properly.

One sleepless night due to a roommate who snored like a hibernating bear, I found myself on my way to the square at around 5.30 am. The whole square was deserted except for a couple of Carabinieri in a parked car doing the overnight watch. I got to work. It took me around 30 minutes to breeze through a range of shots including a nice panoramic.

One side of the Basilica was under scaffolding so I had to try and avoid that side. All in all I was happy with what I came away with, yes it would have been nicer to have a better morning sunrise but hey ho…

The British base at Lashkar Gah has been handed over to Afghan control. I spent a good deal of time at the base myself during my two tours of Afghanistan. Although I think the British Public do not realise that Lashkar Gah is a large City. Its name translated means ‘Soldier’s Place’ and it dates back to the time of Alexander the Great.

It has a hustle and bustle with thousands coming and going. Glimpses of modern technology mix with the traditions of old. It is a beautiful place and is target rich for any budding street photographer.

It is certainly a place that I would one day like to go back to as a civilian.

Most Army Photographers will at some point get tasked with Aerial Photography. Its usually getting shots of a site or Barracks but it may even be a group shot from the air.

The mode of transport may differ too whether it is a Chinook, Lynx or Sea king. Each have their own niche way of shooting. For example, on the Chinook you will either be shooting from the ramp or from the seats, depending on the Loadmaster.

I enjoy Aerial Work, its quite the buzz and usually the person who requests the images will be very happy with the results as they don’t normally get to see that kind of imagery delivered quickly and to a high standard.

The image of the Exercise set up was Exercise ARRCADE FUSION 2013 which took place at RAF St Mawgan near Cornwall. The shot has been published and printed at 43 inches on the shortest edge. It looks great! Customer happy, job done.

My first job with Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps was one of learning. We were following in the footsteps of the 9th Panzer Division as they pushed towards France at the start of World War 2.

We were visiting a bunker on the Maginot Line, the images above are the photos that I took whilst in the bunker. The place had a quiet cold feel to it. It felt like a Tomb as it turned out to be for its unfortunate French Soldiers, RIP.